Bieszard Leads Yale at HYP

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Yale men's track and field team placed third when they faced their two oldest rivals, Harvard and Princeton, on Saturday. The Bulldogs finished with 13.50 points, while the Tigers ran away with the meet with 100.50 points and the Crimson were second with 56.50 points. Even though the final points tally didn't fall in the Bulldogs' favor, they were buoyed by a number of strong performances, which were turned in predominantly by freshmen who have begun to get their feet wet in collegiate competition.

Senior captain Matthew Bieszard lead his team with a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash. He finished in 48.40, less than 0.20 seconds away from the meet record that Tom Hopkins of Princeton broke in 48.21. His time is also a collegiate best.

In the 500-meter dash, freshman William Rowe placed fourth as one of three runners to finish within a second of each other. First was Jeff Homer of Princeton in 1:06.10, followed by Rowe in 1:06.36, then Jesaiah Coy of Harvard in 1:06.96.

Also in the sprints, sophomore Daniel Jones was third in the 60-meter dash in an IC4A-qualifying 6.96. His time was a season-best for both Jones and the Bulldogs.

Freshman Daniel Kemp turned in a big personal record in the 60-meter hurdles when he placed fourth in the final heat. Though he had only finished sixth in the preliminary race in 8.81, Kemp exploded in the final to cross the line in 8.58.

In the long jump, sophomore Dana Lindberg was fourth in 6.94m (22'9.25"). Freshman Kyle Bajtos tied his season best in the high jump, leaping 1.84m to finish fifth on faults.

Freshman John McGowan was third in the 1,000-meter run in 2:27.13, just in front of Connor Martin of Princeton in 2:27.97. Previously, McGowan had turned in a time of 2:31.55, back in January when Yale took on Dartmouth and Columbia.

Sophomore Ryan Laemel took 12 seconds off his 3,000-meter run time and qualified for the ECAC Championship meet in March. Earlier in the season, Laemel had finished in 8:30.37, but on Saturday, he crossed the line in 8:18.65.

Junior Timothy Hillas also produced a personal best at the meet. He finished the one mile run in 4:08.43, which was good for fourth place and also qualifies him for the ECAC meet. His previous best this season was 4:11.60, representing a three second improvement.

The Bulldogs will take a break from competition next weekend to gear up for the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships in Ithaca, N.Y., on Feb. 25-26.